


Just a dancer

by Crystalloganberry



Category: Avengers, Captain America
Genre: F/M, Friends With Benefits To Lovers, Old fashioned Steve, Reader is a Dancer, history major reader, some semi sexual content, steve x reader - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-10
Updated: 2019-06-11
Packaged: 2020-04-24 05:27:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19166716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crystalloganberry/pseuds/Crystalloganberry
Summary: Reader is a Burlesque dancer and happens to catch the eye of a certain Captain who immediately wants to get to know her. She wants to just hook up. He wants a lot more.





	1. Chapter 1

This was the one place you never imagined you'd be in, let alone walking out of. Last night, you must've been more drunk then you had originally thought, or maybe too intoxicated by the way he stared at you and left gentle longing touches on your skin that left you burning. You had been walked right through the front door of the Avengers headquarters without even noticing.

You glanced over at the bed beside you with new hollowing sobriety. The man beside you had fallen dead asleep minutes after you two finished and cleaned up. You, quickly and quietly as possible, stood from the bed, causing the man to stir ever so slightly. You looked back at him… God damn a face and body like that, you had to be one of the luckiest dancers you knew. 

Silently you slipped your leggings on and pulled on your bra then shirt. You held your panties, contemplating for a second before writing him a quick note with a pen and a pad by the bed, leaving it and the panties on the nightstand. As much as you'd like to stay and bask in his muscular physique, and let him make you breakfast, something felt so wrong staying in bed with the super soldier himself, Captain America. So you left him your panties as a invitation to see you again. 

So many things led up to tonight. You looked back on them as you tried to find your way out of the building which was a never ending maze. 

~~

It had been about 3 months before, about late June. You had a job as a burlesque dancer, basically a stripper but you didn't like to call it that because the club you worked at was more classy than a strip club. Your club also didn't play those aggressive rap songs, mostly jazzy songs almost all the time. At your work, they announced that there was a decades weekend and had set a sign up for each decade starting with the 1920s. You rushed to the sign up, signing up for the 1940s slot, seeing as World War 2 was always one of your favorite subjects to learn about, especially Captain America.

Leading up to that weekend you worked on choreography at home in your room. You ended up choosing a pretty jazzy song, but it had plenty of 1940s essence for you to pull it off. You ended up buying a red, white and blue bra and panties set and a nice tan button down and shorts to go on top, mimicking the uniforms of the soldiers from WW2. You had also found some little flag pasties that you couldn't help but buy as well. By the time it came in and you fixed any stitching that would come undone, it was the night of the performances. July 4th.

You got ready and did your makeup, overhearing other girls whispering about a full crowd and some birthday in the crowd. Apparently a pretty important one too because everyone knew except for you. You tried asking but only got some answers like "I didn't think he'd be in a place like this" or "you'll recognize Him". To those, you just rolled your eyes and continued getting ready. You got to be on stage for about 8 minutes, pretty long compared to any other weekend. 

Your boss rushed you out quickly after you were done changing, you were up first to perform. They had welcomed everyone to the show and announced other specials and such before playing your music. You walked out in your costume and began your dance. Very sensual if you did say so yourself. As you slowly stripped your shorts to the song, you caught glances of the crowd, looking to see if you could find this birthday guy everyone was talking about. 

That's when you made eye contact with him. None other than the Super Soldier himself, Steve Rodgers. And you were on stage in a skimpy America thong and bra, peeking out from your half unbuttoned shirt. Something about his gaze on you made you feel both very unpatriotic and so hot at the same time. On the stage a little closer to him there was a pole, maybe you'd get a better glance at him. You took off your shirt to expose the bra fully, moving towards the pole. 

You spun and grinded on the pole as you looked through the crowd, catching his glance a couple more time, confirming it was him and what you assumed to be the Winter soldier, Bucky, beside him. Bucky seemed more excited by your outfit, elbowing his friend as he smiled. Steve however looked so conflicted, wearing an American flag like you were probably was very unpatriotic but you assumed he didn't care. You slowly undid the bra and dropped on the stage right in front of him as you slowly got on your knees in front of another customer who was a regular, blowing that man a small kiss, sending a pang of jealousy into Steve's chest, even though this was the first time he’d ever seen you.

You stood again, letting your tits bounce dramatically to the music as it came closer to the end. You ended your dance, holding onto the pole with one hand, arching your back gently to push your breasts out, and using your free hand to salute, sending the Captain a wink. Everyone clapped as the song finished, letting you grab your clothes and go backstage. You smiled at your coworkers as you went back to the shared dressing room to lay your clothes down. 

~~

About two weeks went by before you saw Steve again. That weekend you were dancing again but there wasn't a theme so you dressed in a usual garter and thigh highs, a nice bustier and panty combo to match the garter. You had a dress to go above your outfit for your dance and some long gloves. 

Your dance had gone as usual, but once again you saw Steve, yet now he was alone and sat towards the back of the club. His eyes watched as you strut around, stripping and dancing sensually to the music. Once again you sent him a wink at the end of the song. 

~~

The next couple months went like that. Once a week you performed and Steve was always there to watch you with his eyes watching your every move. One of your best friends, a bartender, took notice to the man who stared at you and he often teased you about it.

"All I'm saying is that his eyes stick to you like glue the whole time you dance… he looks at you like the most valuable diamond in the whole world" The bartender, Kyle, said as you helped him clean up the bar before the day even started. 

"I don't know Ky… I always took him as a more old fashioned man. What would he be doing in a club like this?" You said, wiping across the top of the bar with a cloth. You were dressed in the usual server outfits, your stockings, ruffly shorts, and a nice bra and a sheer bodysuit above the bra. "I always thought of him as the kind of guy that probably sits at home on Saturday nights and reads the newspaper as smooth jazz plays out of a record player."

"You do realize burlesque is probably the closest to an old fashioned strip club there is? He's looking for a woman and must I say, he's already got his eyes on you." Kyle said and patted your shoulder. "Are you working the floor or the stage tonight?" He asked you as you thought about what day it was. 

"Floor, serving. One of the other girls needed the tips towards her schooling this week so I gave her the slot for dancing." You explained as you saw people start to trickle into the club. 

"So you finally get to be face to face with Mr. Handsome, can't-peel-his-eyes-off-you, superhero. Good luck." Kyle wished you as you laughed at him. 

More and more people took seats and ordered drink service so you strutted around and gave the men their drinks. As some music played before the performances, you shook your hips or body as you felt the music. You had one for a table in the back and your heart dropped, realizing who sat there. none other then the hero himself. You put on your smile and strutted yourself over to him.

"Mr. Rogers?" You read off the receipt and set the drink on his little table. He held out a couple bills as most men did. "Choose where you want to leave it hun." You purred in your most sultry voice and he looked up at you finally. His eyes widened as you crouched over slightly, assuming he wanted to put it in your bra. 

He slipped the couple of bills in your hand and gently kissed it. You smiled as a small blush spread on your cheeks. "You're not dancing today?" He asked and watched you as you put the couple of bills into your bra for safe keeping. 

"Nope. I decided I'd come out here to visit you." You said playfully and smiled at him. He offered to buy you a drink on him. Normally you refused offers like that until later in the night but what would one drink hurt. You weren't a lightweight but you also weren't a heavy drinker so one drink would be good enough to loosen you up a little. 

You continued to take drinks out to other men until the show started. Once it started you made your own glass of white wine and walked to the spot that the captain was sitting in. You held out your glass and a refill for him to take. He took it and offered a toast to you quietly as the girls on the stage danced. You took a gentle sip of your drink as you or eyes flickered between the girl on stage and him. He wasn't even acknowledging the girl dancing, eyes staring at you. 

You two talked quietly and he leaned in to talk to you. Every once and a while he touched your hand or your arm and smiled at you. Those small touches made your heart pound and your skin burn hotly. A couple times you got up to walk drinks out, usually bringing back a refill of wine for you and whatever he had been drinking. Every time you stood and walked you could feel his eyes on you. Did he not realize that there was people on the stage? 

Towards the end of the night you were basically sitting in his lap. You weren't, but someone took the seat you had been sitting in so you resorted to sitting on the arm of Steve's chair. After a couple minutes, Steve's hand found itself gently placed on your knee to be sure you were able to sit comfortably. As he took a sip of his drink you caught Kyle's eye and he made the international hand sign for having sex. You rolled your eyes and looked back to Steve to continue your conversation. 

After the show finished, your shift was basically over, but the bar remained open. You took all the dollars off of you and eventually the one out of your bra, splitting it with Kyle. You realized the bills in your bra were both $50 bills. You widen your eyes and looked over at the captain and smiled at you. You had about 3 glasses of wine which was enough for you to still be conscious about your surroundings. Kyle split the tips evenly and hugged you goodnight. 

You walked to the back to pull on your shirt and leggings, calming your hair down a bit and deciding to remove your makeup at home. As you walked out the back entrance you immediately noticed the man lingering outside the entrance. You smiled and walked over to him, the same man you been sitting with all night. "How would you like to take me home?" You said, leaning against him as your head buzzed with the flow of alcohol through your system. He wrapped an arm around you to help you stabilize, guiding you towards a black car. 

~~

That brought you to where you were now, walking out of the goddamn Avengers tower you had found your way out of after about half an hour, your heels in your hand as you walked out into the street. You remembered him helping you and kissing you back gently. When you had gotten to his room you had immediately expected him to want to have sex, but he was more loving and sensual then you had expected, helping you take off your heels and such. Maybe alcohol didn't do anything to him. He seemed shocked when you started undressing and kissing him, but he eventually went along with your lead and ended up being one of the best hookups you've had in a long time.

You smiled stupidly to yourself as you glanced back at the tower. But not even that night would prepare you for the weeks to come.


	2. Chapter 2

The next couple weeks, Steve showed up almost every night you worked. He didn’t mention the panties you had left, probably ended up keeping them as a momento. Now instead of money he handed you small roses and gave you small kisses on the hand. Or when you were dancing he would have the server put a flower on your bag in the back. This went on for about two weeks before you slept with him again. Same as last time, you left as soon as he fell asleep. Yet this time, he was expecting it, being more prepared, now taking time to undress you and press kisses along your skin, sending delicious chills up your spine. 

Again he offered for you to say and you refused. As he fell asleep you left a gentle kiss on his cheek, being careful not to wake him. You creeped out of the building again and went back home, smiling to yourself as your mind wandered to how well he treated you. None of your exes ever treated you that romantically, yet Steve did, the moment he had a chance to. 

~~ 

At your day job, you worked at the front desk and a teacher at a gym. You often taught heels and pole classes. The gym was about a block from the avengers tower. Every so often you saw one of them flying or running down the street, following some criminal or something.

On this specific day, you were running early for one of your pole classes, walking towards your gym, meaning you had to walk past the Avengers tower. You were in your nice gym shorts and a crop top because it was finally warm enough to go out in them. You also had your gym bag on your shoulder and your earbuds in, listening to the jazz song you were planning on dancing to this weekend.

As you walked towards the tower, some random man tried to grab your gym bag/purse as you walked by him, you turned and looked at that man, grabbing his arm as he held the bag. 

Your eyes stared at the man as you twisted his arm back towards his shoulder, causing him to loosen his grip on the bag. “You’re really going to regret that.” You growled at him. 

“What are you going to do sweetheart, dance your way out of it?” You recognized his voice as one of the regulars at your club. Damnit, you knew being out in public was bound to draw some attention to the fact you were one of the more popular dancers at the club. 

As you were trying to get away from the man, a car pulled up to the building, letting out none other than Captain America in full hero garb. Man if those T-shirts he wore left nothing to your imagination, this gave your more to imagine. He looked both way on the sidewalk, and there was plenty of people, yet his eyes fell on you and the man who was gripping your wrist too harshly for your liking. As the Captain walked towards you, you kneed the man right in the goods, causing him to tighten his grip and pull you towards him. You yelped as he tried to pull at your top.

Steve grabbed the man from behind and pulled him off of you, tossing the man to the ground as if he weighed nothing. You pulled your top back down over your sports bra and turned to face the man on the ground, then the Captain above you. 

“You better rethink how you treat ladies like her.” The Captain stared down at the man who looked like he’d seen a ghost. “Grabbing them and abusing them will get you nowhere but in prison.” He clarified before the man pulled himself up and ran away. You returned your glance to the Captain.

“Thank you…” You said quietly as you looked up to him. Honestly it was weird seeing him outside of the club, in his actual hero garb. You looked over the suit, surprised to really be this close to him in costume. 

“It was no problem, I just want to be sure you’re safe.” He laid a gentle arm on your shoulder. You couldn’t really get flustered now, you had to get to your class. “I also wanted to ask you something.”

“I can’t really talk right now, I’m late for a class.” You said as you result your bag over your shoulder and looked up at him. “Walk and talk?” You offered. He followed you as you began to walk down the street. 

“I wanted to ask if you’d let me take you out for dinner.” You looked up to him, thinking for a second, you stopped walking again, grabbing his arm to face you.

“I… I don't really know. I don’t really go out with guys I meet at the club. And you hardly know me." You said, gently putting a hand onto his bicep. Good lord he really was built like an Adonis.

"What if I just take you out on a getting to know you dinner date?" He offered, and it flattered you how desperate he was, glancing down at your hand on his arm. 

"Only if we go back to your place afterwards." You winked at him and shot him a nice smile. He smiled a little bit at you and nodded "come down to the gym down the street in about an hour and a half." You shot him a wink before turning to start running your gym for class. At this rate you'd be a couple minutes late but it was worth it. 

~~

When you got there you stripped to your sports bra and your boy shorts. You danced smoothly along with the other girls, some your coworkers at the club, some regulars, a couple new faces. You had taught some short choreography over the hour and a half, having groups do it. A couple of your coworkers asked you to join in on theirs because they wanted to record it. You joined them, playing the song and hoisting yourself up on the pole, spinning and moving gracefully along to the song. 

A couple other groups wanted you to get in on their recordings so you continued to dance as these women recorded. After your last group, you noticed a man standing at the door to the studio. You hugged a couple people goodbye and took your time to clean up, watching in the mirror as Steve walked into the room. 

"Sorry, class ran a little later than expected." You apologized, turning to face him. He was in another one of his way-too-tight shirts and some casual jeans and boots. He was also wearing a hat and tinted sunglasses. Which was odd because it was just about sunset outside.

"You looked so graceful up there," he complimented you and leaned in to gently give you a kiss on the forehead. "A true beauty to behold." 

"Oh you're just flattering me." You slowly pulled away from him and turned back to your bag to get changed. 

Steve watched as you slipped on a pair of light blue jeans and a comfy tshirt before grabbing your bag and standing beside him. As you walked out, he was sure to open every door for you and you were sure to either smile or thank him. As you both walked down the street, he wrapped his arm around you and rested it on your waist.

He took you to a little hole-in-the-wall diner that wasn’t far from where you lived, yet you never heard about it or saw it. He opened the door for you and you walked in before him. You both sat at a small table and talked quietly. You could feel a minor awkwardness between you too. 

“I’m sorry if this is awkward… I’m not the best at conversation,” You laughed to yourself a little and looked up at him. 

“I want to get to know you a little better, which is something that you know plenty about.” He offered as he got into a more comfortable sitting position. You looked down from his eyes to the table. “At least I’m hoping so.” He added with a slight chuckle. 

“I’d hope I’d know about myself,” You said and leaned against the table to think for a second. “Well I graduated college about 5 years ago. I haven’t really gotten into what I studied as a career until recently because I never had the right connections. I also started dancing as soon as I turned 21 and it gave me a very good supply of money to get through school. With the amount I was making, I decided that I didn’t want to continue with my career.” 

“What did you study in college?” He asked, specifically digging into yourself a little more. You looked a little embarrassed and laughed looking down. 

“You’ll think it’s weird.” You laughed but he egged you on. 

“It can’t be that embarrassing,” Steve encouraged, “I’ve probably seen more embarrassing things then whatever you studied in college.” 

“I was a history major. Specialized in World War 2 and the experiments that came out of it. Also a lot of the culture and how life worked then.” You said and it clicked in his head as to why you found it embarrassing. 

“So how much do you know about me then?” He asked and leaned against the table with a cocky smirk. So he got cocky about himself and people knowing how famous he was. Good to note. 

“Plenty enough to not swoon over you and treat you like anything other then another man,” You immediately pulled him down a peg. “I know about you before you became big and buff and a symbol of American culture and hatred of Germany.” You crossed your arms and sat back in your seat, mirroring his reaction to you allegedly knowing so much about how amazing he was. 

He let out a laugh and nodded in defeat. “Yeah that’s fair. Gotta expect that when my entire life is in the history books.” 

Dinner went smoothly. As you two ate and chatted quietly, you gently pushed one of your feet against his leg in a minorly flirtatious way. He seemed to enjoy the small touches, especially in the silence between conversations. When the time came, he paid for dinner and left a nice tip for the waitress. You smiled as he opened the door again for you on your way out.

As you two walked down the street he looked like he wanted to hold your hand but you knew he was holding back because he wasn't sure if you would accept it. Silently you reached your hand over and took his hand into yours. It seemed to appease the urge he had as you walked back to the tower, going in through a back entrance to remain unnoticed. 

You two climbed in the elevator and you pulled yourself against the back wall with his body above you, pulling him down to capture your lips in a slow kiss. You wrapped your arms around his neck and continued kissing him and drowning out the world. The only problem was that all the other Avengers had access to this elevator. More specifically Thor. 

The door opened and you and Steve pulled apart to make eye contact with a now astounded god as he climbed onto the elevator. "Oh Captain, is this your woman? What a beautiful lady. Are you taking her to see the team?" He said and offered a hand to you, "Thor, God of thunder."

"Y/n." You shook his hand. Steve let go of your waist and stood beside you. 

"I'm not taking her to meet anyone… yet. And please, Thor, don't mention this to anyone else." Steve moved closer to Thor in a pleading and threatening sort of way. 

"Why not?" Thor was still smiling, "Having a woman is a glorious event for you and you should be celebrating." Steve looked at you for help. 

"Mr… God of thunder, nothing is for sure yet." You said and smiled at him. You felt Thor was just more confused and Steve seemed to get a little more hopeful at your response. Maybe you were considering dating him, even though you knew in the back of your mind that it would be one of the most risky things you'd ever do. 

Steve tried to explain it more but ultimately made Thor swear that he wouldn't tell anyone anyways. You got off into a hallway and Steve pulled you down the hall towards his bedroom.


	3. Chapter 3

Steve opened the door to his room and let you inside. You giggled quietly as he closed the door, turning back to you and picking you up by the thighs. Your lips connected and he held you by your bum, in the air. You wrapped your arms around his neck and continued to kiss him as he walked you towards the bed. You were not light and thin like so many women. You were a normal sized woman with curves and he was still able to pick you up as if you weighed 5 pounds. 

Your hand found its way to his hair as you kissed him deeply, him sitting you down onto the bed. He separated your lips and moved to pull back and you looked at him for a second. Then he moved completely from you, moving to his dresser where there was a record player. If you didn't know until now, you could definitely tell he was old fashioned by the quiet jazz music he put on. 

"Come here." He offered his hand out to you and you stood up to walk towards him. As the music played softly through the room. 

"Wanted to show me your amazing record collection?" You joked as he took your hand and pulled you to his chest. He took one of your hands in his and the other he pushed up and around his shoulders and his fell to your waist. You looked to his hand holding yours, adjusting yours to fit more comfortably.

"I wanted to show you more about me and the culture that you spent all that time studying in college." He said quietly and swayed back and forth with you. You looked up at him in silent confusion, but he dismissed it and continued to sway with you. You listened in to the song playing and realized that you had probably heard it once before at the club but this was much more relaxing. 

His touches were soft and he silently hummed along to some parts of the song. At some moments he would spin you or kiss you softly. As much as you wanted to break away and get back to what you expected initially, you laid your head on his chest and closed your eyes. 

You two didn't break apart for at least 2 or 3 songs. You looked up to him, eyes full of thought. Never had you danced with a man like this. Not at weddings of your cousins, not at any school dances. The only time you would consider what in one of your history culture classes where you and Kyle had joked around and danced around your dorm to some Frank Sinatra on a drunken weekend party with friends.

"How about you stay the night with me so I know you're safe." He whispered in your ear quietly. The same as when you two had slept together before. You looked up to him and sighed with a soft smile. 

"I have to leave before anyone sees me. I don't want any other Avengers nagging you about seeing me." You whispered. 

"I always wake up before anyone else does. I can bring you home tomorrow." Steve grew more hopeful as you didn't immediately turn him down. 

"You really are an old man, early to bed and early to wake." You joked and he laughed, still continuing to sway with you as you two talked. 

"I don't think an old man wakes up at 5am to go on runs and work out." He shot back at you. 

"Depends on the old man." You smiled and he pressed a soft kiss to your lips. "Like in your case… yeah." and he gasped in fake offense. 

~~

You two had fallen asleep together on his bed, not even having had sex or anything along those lines. He had given you one of his shirts that was always stretched out way too far on his chest. It fit you almost perfect, giving just enough slack to make it comfortable. The next morning you woke up to Steve offering to take you to breakfast. 

You looked up at him and to the clock on the bedside table. It was already almost 7. You looked at him with wide eyes. 

"I thought you were going to take me back at 5 before you worked out. Someone's bound to be awake by now." You looked at him with your eyes filled with worry. 

"Don't worry I can sneak you out." Steve said and pressed a kiss to your forehead. "So would you want to go to breakfast?" He asked as you sat up in the bed. 

"Only if we get out without anyone noticing me." You said and pushed your hair out of your face pulling an elastic off your wrist and pulling your hair up into a ponytail. "Just let me wash off my face first." You offered and got up, walking over to the bathroom connected to his room. You turned on the faucet and waited a second for it to warm up, looking at yourself in the mirror. The door was still open and you could see the record player in the corner of the room, and Steve collecting your jeans and tshirt off the ground and laying them on the bed for you. 

You leaned over to wash your face of the sheen of sleep. As you dried your face off you opened your eyes and looked back at the mirror, Steve just settling standing in the doorway. You grinned and turned back to him, "Last night had to be the best date I've ever been on." You walked towards him and wrapped your arms around his neck when you got close enough. 

~~

After that night your whole dynamic changed. He would take you out for dinner at least once a week, walk you back to either his or your place. He also took you home from the club, being sure that you'd get home safely, even if you weren't sleeping together that night. 

One night, he was out on a mission and you decided to hang out with Kyle and your other friend Missy, who had so many questions for you since they would see you leaving kisses on Steve's cheek and walking back with a flower in your hand. He was begging to have a wine night or something and Missy was dying to hang out with you and hear what was going on.

You had just finished cleaning your apartment when there was a knock on the door a second before it swung open. "I have wine and the pizza is on the way." Kyle called to you as you finished pulling your hair up into what seemed to be the messiest bun your hair could possibly be in. Missy walked in behind him. 

"I brought cookies and movies." She called, as she tried to balance both of them and her bag on her shoulder. 

"Oh you two know me so well." You laughed as you gave them both a hug and took the things from their arms and let them take off their jackets because it had started to get colder outside. 

“Ok, Ms. America. Tell me about your new man.” Missy said and hopped onto your couch as you sat the wine on your kitchen counter, pulling out a wine opener. It was just a small studio apartment so you could still see Kyle and her across the room. A blush spread across your cheeks. 

“What do you want to know?” You asked, looking at your phone and seeing it light up with a notification, a picture of you and him glowing as the background, you leaned over to read the notification. It was Steve. You picked up your phone and read the text a simple ‘Got home early. Dinner?’ His texts were never really full sentences. You can tell he was still learning how to text, just like when your mom or dad try to text you. 

“What’s he like? Did you sleep together? How is dating him? C’mon sister tell me.” Oh yeah, Kyle was pretty damn gay. Missy was too. And you loved both of them immensely. 

You smiled quietly and texted him back. ‘Pizza and movie night with a couple friends. Wanna join?' You offered. And brought the opened wine and three glasses back to the couch. 

"He's one of the sweetest men I think i've ever met." You said and sat between the two. "He's such a gentleman, opens door for me, brings me flowers, and makes sure I get home safely." You sighed and looked back down at your phone as it buzzed. 'Now?' You typed a quick yes and put your phone down. 

"And the sleeping together part?" Kyle asked and looked at you with a laughing grin. 

"Um… yeah we have a couple of times." You muttered quietly. And Kyle and Missy squealed in excitement 

"How big is he… in all the senses." Kyle grabbed your arm in excitement. Missy gagged. 

"Is that really all you can think about?" Missy asked and rolled her eyes at Kyle. "Y/n you don't have to answer that. Unless you want to let Kyle get it out of his system." 

"Big enough." You pushed Kyle jokingly as you leaned forward to grab a glass and pour yourself some wine. "Proportionate to his body size." You said and Kyle groaned. You got up to put a movie in as they continued talking about how lucky you were.

Everyone joked around and talked about relationships for a while while the movie played in the background. There was a knock on the door and you got up to go get it. You opened the door, coming face to face with none other than one of your exes.

More specifically your most recent ex, broken up 6 months ago, about 3 weeks before you met Steve. He had thought you were cheating at your work and revenge cheated on you. Problem was that you weren’t cheating, you were telling other men off. One man groped you at just the right moment and your ex blew up at you. 

His name was Brian. He had always been a very iffy relationship choice for you. He was always very racist, sexist, controlling, and overall a very rude guy. He was also verbally and sometimes physically abusive. Missy had always hated him from the day you started talking. 

He was soaked in what you were assuming was rain from outside. He looked fuming, hand held out, a picture of you and Steve talking on the street from a few days ago. “You said you weren’t cheating on me when we broke up. Who the HELL is this?” He yelled and shoved it towards your face. 

“First off, why are you stalking me? You followed me to my house? I could very easily call the cops on you right now.” You had definitely found confidence after you two broke up, realizing how abusive he really was and regaining your confidence in your mind and body. 

“You know you won’t sugar, you know you were wrong and you cheated on me, now I demand your apology,” he grabbed your wrist and pulled your door closed behind you, he gripped your wrist tightly as you winced in pain. 

Your mouth opened to apologize, a learned reaction from you, but your mouth disobeyed your head. “I wasn’t wrong. That’s my new boyfriend, who I started dating weeks after we broke up, who is a whole lot better than you ever were to me.” You growled out at him, feeling his grip tighten on your wrist, surely bruising the skin beneath it. You let out a small squeak and kicked your door hard enough to signal to your friends inside.

As soon as Brian heard that he pushed you back towards the wall, almost knocking the air out of you. As he was about to speak, you heard steps on the stairs, sounding just like how Steve’s usually sound, (he’s been over enough for you to have memorized the clunk). He was only on the landing between the first and second floor, you were on the fourth. Your eyes widened as Brian took notice of your listening. “HELP!” You screamed quickly and Brian’s hand clamped over your mouth. You looked at him wide eyed as the feet on the stairs sped up. 

"You stupid bitch." Brian growled and the hand that was covering your mouth soon collided with your cheek. He had punched you in the face and man it stung like a bitch. He had never done that before, always wary of you getting caught so he always hid the bruises and scratches on you. You grabbed your cheek in pain as you crouched over in pain, him lastly kneeling you in the side. "There's more where that came from stupid bitch." He muttered and rushed down the stairs as you fell on the ground in pain. 

The door to your apartment flew open and Steve climbed up the last flight seconds later. You curled into yourself on the ground and covered your head with your hands. Jesus you felt like you would've thrown up if you had already eaten the pizza, which apparently Steve was holding, probably caught the delivery man on the way up. Kyle knelt beside you and gently moved your hair to assess the damage. Steve looked at you, worried, then to Missy. 

"What happened?" He asked, moving to crouch beside Kyle. You looked up out of the corner of your eye. You opened your mouth to speak but slowly realized your lip was bleeding and tears were streaming down your face. Your heart was pounding hard in your chest as you realized you were having a full panic attack as you overthought the events that had just happened.

"It was Brian wasn't it?" Missy asked and you nodded slowly. "Her ex. Abusive dickhead that was over controlling and enjoyed using her as a punching bag." Missy explained to Steve. Steve’s eyebrows furrowed. You had never told him about Brian, it was still too early in your relationship to unpack all of that. 

"Lets get her inside. There's some bandages and gauze in the apartment." Kyle muttered and helped you sit up. "I'm Kyle by the way." Kyle said and looked towards Steve with a small smile. 

"Steve." He nodded back and helped you stand up, gently picking you up instead of you walking. You laid against his chest, tears rolling freely from your eyes against his surprisingly soft t shirt. Kyle and Missy looked at him as he carried you, Kyle silently grabbing the pizza from where it was discarded on the floor. 

Steve sat you down on your bed and crouched in front of you. You couldn’t bear to make eye contact with him. Your heart was pounding from the rush of anxiety and adrenaline in your system and if you looked at him you for sure would cry more and you were not a cute crier; tears painting your cheeks, runny nose, furrowed eyebrows that highlighted the wrinkles in your forehead. 

Steve wasn’t having that reaction though and he tilted your head up towards him, yet you kept your eyes down. “Sweetheart look at me.” He said softly and you took a deep breath in and looked slowly up to him. Kyle handed him the first aid kit. Steve gently wiped the blood from your lip and wiped your tears off your cheek with his thumb. You tried to slow your crying, quietly sniffing and rubbing your stomach where it was hit.

Missy sat on the bed behind you, gently rubbing your back. “He knows where I live. I can’t stay here.” You whispered quietly as you looked into Steve’s worried eyes. 

“You can stay with me,” Missy offered. “Only problem is I don’t have a door guard in my building. And I’m pretty sure he knows where I live too.” Missy said softly and you looked down away from Steve as he gently rubbed your arm. 

“How about you come stay with me,” Steve said quietly. “I know it’s a bit abrupt and early in the relationship but I have plenty of room and I think you’d be safest staying with me.” He pushed a piece of your hair out of your face. You thought to yourself quietly. That was a lot of commitment this early but there’s no way you could stay where Brian could hurt you again. 

“Sure.” You whispered softly.


End file.
